Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / MultipleEndings

Go To

1%% Trope was declared Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease via crowner by the Real Life Maintenance thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php?crowner_id=pa0ga3r4
2%%https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13350380440A15238800
3%%%
4%%
5%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!
6%%
7%%%
8!!"Good Ending" redirects here. If you were looking for the manga series commonly known by that name, you'll find it under ''Manga/GEGoodEnding''.
9
10
11%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1574701386073634100
12%% Previous thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1529101551057268600
13%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
14%%
15[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/TheStanleyParable https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stanparendi_9.png]]]]
16[[caption-width-right:350:[[MultipleEndings/TheStanleyParable And there's lots more where these came from.]]]]
17%%
18
19->''"That's how it could've happened... But how about this?"''
20-->-- ''Film/{{Clue}}'', setting the stage for its alternate endings.
21
22Multiple Endings are the most commonly seen form of StoryBranching in video games, used primarily to increase their ReplayValue, especially {{visual novel}}s, {{role playing game}}s, SurvivalHorror, {{dating sim}}s, and {{fighting game}}s. Different strategies or levels of skill in play will result in different endings, rather than all leading to a single predetermined conclusion. Generally, multiple playthroughs are necessary to see all the content, and possibly to unravel certain mysteries. What determines the ending usually involves the path one takes through the game (which can be as simple as choices the game gives in the prompt or as complex as entire alternate levels), whether one completes the HundredPercentCompletion, how well one plays the game (generally, scoring high is good and [[ContinuingIsPainful using continues is bad]]), other characters' RelationshipValues towards you ([[FactionSpecificEndings including]] the AllianceMeter), and/or how high the player got the KarmaMeter. Sometimes there are dual-optimal endings depending on [[AlignmentBasedEndings which side the player chose to be on]]. (These can include the Forces of Evil!) The most diverse examples are found in {{Visual Novel}}s and {{Dating Sim}}s, including but not limited to:
23
24* The ''Standard End'', which usually involves the least effort by the player, and the only requirement is often just completing the story/main quest of the game. Often called the Normal End by VisualNovel fans. This is usually very short or unfulfilling, such as [[AWinnerIsYou a blank staff roll]], if the game is trying to push HundredPercentCompletion on you. Alternatively, it does end the main story itself on a decently happy note, but leaves some of the larger subplots hanging with minimal, if any real resolution at all. Often times, it will also include some sort of hint of varying subtlety that a more elaborate ending exists, usually by having the PlayerCharacter (or someone else) muse aloud if things could have changed if they had done ''something'' differently/put in more effort.
25* The ''Good End'', which tends to be more elaborate in nature, featuring one or more character-specific endings on a positive note, and frequently some kind of epilogue; be it WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, summing up the fates of the characters, or even a PlayableEpilogue where the player can discover these facts (and possibly more) for themselves. It's usually separated from the Standard End by having a somewhat higher bar of entry, requiring that the player does more than just completing the main story/quest. This can come in the form of having to complete several, or even all {{Sidequest}}s, find a hidden or obscure item (and sometimes even use it at the right time), beating the game within [[TimedMission a time limit]], and even a combination of some, or all of the previous criteria. If the developers are feeling merciful, the Standard Ending will often include a hint on how to unlock this ending. Sometimes referred to as the GoldenEnding (especially if the lesser options [[BittersweetEnding simply aren't]] [[DownerEnding that good]]). In {{dating sim}}s, this is usually the one where the player character gets laid.
26* The ''True End'', the primary plot ending of a game that has multiple endings. In many Visual Novels, this ending is often the OmegaEnding, and may not be achievable if all the other endings have not been discovered yet. It basically forces the player to finish the game with the "Good End" in order to unlock the path of the true story. When it is still locked, trying to get the "True End" usually results in the "Standard End" or "Bad End" below. Getting the "True End" tends to be a -- if not ''the'' -- main requirement to unlock any kind of SecretExpandedEpilogue the game may have and will usually reveal most, if not everything that happened in the other storylines, while some events remain mysterious even when the "Good End" is achieved. The "True End" often overlaps with the GoldenEnding, but [[EarnYourBadEnding not always]]. Also, don't be surprised if there's a TrueFinalBoss at the end of this road.
27* The ''Good+/Best End'', where all the available content is opened up or shown. As the name implies, this is the best out of several possible "Good Ends", and almost ''always'' overlaps with the GoldenEnding.
28* The variably-used ''Poor End'', when the player makes a decision that [[OffTheRails prevents the story from progressing any further]] for obvious reasons, making this ending effectively a NonStandardGameOver.
29* The longer and genuinely ''Bad End'', where the more devoted but failed gamer is rewarded with a more prolonged, but [[DownerEnding depressing and/or outright disturbing]] ending. See ItsAWonderfulFailure. The phrase '''BAD END''' itself is an IrisOut-type meme, well-recognized in modern parody. [[EarnYourBadEnding Bad Ends are, paradoxically, sought out]] in certain dodgier video games.
30* The ''[[JokeEnding Joke End]]'', perhaps the rarest of all: wacky, wildly out-of-place {{Gainax Ending}}s in otherwise serious games, which are usually the most difficult to obtain, generally requiring the player to be on a NewGamePlus playthrough and/or use some MacGuffin or play in a totally non-standard way.
31
32Some designers include truly "neutral" multiple ends, letting the player decide whether they're good or bad.
33
34The major problem with Multiple Endings is that the sequel, should the developers decide to make one, obviously has to [[CuttingOffTheBranches pick only one ending from which to continue the story]] -- [[NoCanonForTheWicked probably one of the good ones]]. This invariably occurs in adaptations to other media, such as novels, comics, and television. Video games have the technical means to solve said problem with an OldSaveBonus, wherein the previous game's conclusion becomes the player's personal canon in the sequel. The other problem is that thanks to Website/YouTube uploads, being able to view multiple endings no longer requires you to replay an entire game (perhaps in response to this, many games now have in-game rewards for getting different endings). Sometimes multiple endings require the player to do different actions or align themselves to different sides in order to see each ending, even if it means going against the main character's nature and goals to achieve it. This can make the story and characters look disjointed and confuse the player when they see the main character suddenly switching sides because of a few actions they did in a previous scene. When done poorly, having multiple endings can cause the player to have more questions than feel like the story is really resolved.
35
36Occasionally, the Multiple Endings are also couched with a non-linear plot — in which case, it can become frustrating-verging-on-impossible to find any of the multiple endings, especially if there are multiple "threads" in the plot.
37
38Multiple Endings are an effective way to avert UnstableEquilibrium. Instead of rewarding highly-skilled players with more power, reward them with ''less'' power, but give them a better ending if they can succeed. The opposite of MultipleGameOpenings.
39
40Contrast with MortonsFork. Compare and contrast MultipleChoiceFuture and MultipleChoicePast.
41
42As with all EndingTropes, '''''beware of spoilers'''''.
43----
44!!Subtropes:
45[[index]]
46* AlgorithmicStoryBranching: The story's path depends on a wide variety of small factors.
47* AlignmentBasedEndings: The endings are based around the game's [[KarmaMeter morality system]] (good/evil, order/chaos, etc.).
48* CuttingOffTheBranches: There are several endings, but only one is declared canon by later installments. It has a couple of subtropes of its own:
49** MergingTheBranches: Instead of only one ending being declared canon, the multiple, potentially mutually exclusive, endings are all declared canon by later installments.
50** NoCanonForTheWicked: The ending that is most likely to be declared non-canon by later installments is usually the evil-angliment/karma ending.
51* FactionSpecificEndings: The endings differ mainly in what major faction in the game (if any) triumphs over others with the player's help.
52* GoldenEnding: The most beneficial and satisfying (and hardest to achieve) ending in the game.
53** EarnYourBadEnding: The complete inversion of GoldenEnding — the hardest-to-achieve ending in the game is actually the ''worst'' one.
54* LastSecondEndingChoice: The ending is determined by a single choice just before the end, regardless of previous choices.
55* ModularEpilogue: Not a continuous ending cutscene, but a sequence of short scenes that shows the consequences of your choices.
56* OmegaEnding: A secret ending that can only be unlocked by clearing all other endings.
57* PhilosophicalChoiceEndings: The ending choice lets the player take a stand on a philosophical or ethical issue.
58* SecretExpandedEpilogue: An extended version of the ending only unlocked by achieving certain conditions.
59----
60!!Example Subpages:
61* MultipleEndings/VideoGames
62** MultipleEndings/ActionGames
63** MultipleEndings/AdventureGames
64*** ''MultipleEndings/NotForBroadcast''
65*** ''MultipleEndings/TheStanleyParable''
66** ''MultipleEndings/NeedyStreamerOverload''
67** MultipleEndings/RolePlayingGames
68*** ''MultipleEndings/ShinMegamiTensei''
69*** ''MultipleEndings/{{Undertale}}''
70** MultipleEndings/SurvivalHorrorGames
71** MultipleEndings/VisualNovels
72[[/index]]
73
74!!Other Examples:
75
76[[foldercontrol]]
77
78[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
79* Discussed in a supplementary chapter of the [[{{Hentai}} h-manga]] ''Bullied Revnege Hypnosis''. After Akitaka Kazaki manages to hypnotize [[AlphaBitch Itzumi Nogani]], [[GirlPosse Minako Hanada, and Sae Hinata]] into becoming his harem and bearing his children, he's congratulated by two avatars representing the creator, and they tell Akitaka that he essentially got the "harem ending," telling him that had the story gone any differently in a previous chapter, things could have ended much differently. For example they tell him that he could have been brutally murdered, tortured to death, or have been made into an old man's plaything, horrifying Akitaki.
80* The last few minutes of ''Anime/FiveCentimetersPerSecond'' present a number of images that can represent several different aspects of an ending. The "true" (i.e. final) one appears to be a TearJerker EsotericHappyEnding, but it also presents a DownerEnding, a HappilyEverAfter, and a few [[SceneryPorn shots of]] [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic symbolic birds]].
81* ''Manga/{{Fuuka}} Special Edition'' volume contains alternative endings for other heroines, much like ''Manga/ATownWhereYouLive'' bonus chapters.
82* Several TV anime adaptations of the ''[=NeoRomance=]'' DatingSim series achieved this by deliberately leaving the heroine's choice at the end ambiguous, and then packing the DVD release (usually only Limited Edition) with {{omake}} segments showing the possible outcomes, allowing the viewer to choose one of the [[CastFullOfPrettyBoys pretty guys]] themselves instead of [[CuttingOffTheBranches forcing a particular ending on them]]:
83** ''VideoGame/HarukanaruTokiNoNakaDe - Hachiyou Shou'': eight endings.
84** ''VideoGame/NeoAngelique -- Abyss''' second season: nine endings.
85** ''Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 3 -- Owarinaki Unmei'' special: ten endings.
86** ([[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-05-24/la-corda-doro-primo-passo-box-to-add-multiple-endings In DVD box]]) ''VideoGame/LaCordaDOro ~primo passo~'': seven endings.
87* Possibly in a jab at Kirino's obsession with visual novels (and possibly to entice people to buy the DVD/Blu-Ray since only one aired), the first season of ''Literature/{{Oreimo}}'' has two endings. [[spoiler:One where Kyousuke convinces Kirino to stay in Japan and the other where Kirino goes to the US to train in track and Kyousuke convinces her to come back.]]
88* ''Manga/ParadoxBlue'' employs the trappings of video games to tell its story, including multiple endings, usually framed like a NonStandardGameOver. The first chapter of a story sets up a "paradox", a puzzle posed to the main characters by an angel, which they must solve for a boon or else they're likely to be killed. At the end of the chapter, the story then tells the reader to skip to various pages depending on whether they choose to solve the paradox themselves, let the characters do it, or give up. Giving up always leads to an apocalyptic bad ending where one of the characters is the only person left alive on Earth, while solving the paradox or letting the characters solve it (in the next chapter) allows the story to carry on toward the true ending.
89* ''Manga/SgtFrog'': The "segmented endings" variant. They aren't alternate takes, just more and more complete versions of the series. The show's 7th season aired in different timeslots, with different running times in different timeslots. In order to satisfy people who couldn't watch the longer version of the show, the last 3 episodes of the series all ended up being different types of ending stories.
90* ''Manga/ATownWhereYouLive'': Alternative chapters [[TheirFirstTime 200]] were published with anime volumes. They also serve as alternative endings with other heroines.
91* A surprise revelation in Chapter 150 of ''Manga/WeNeverLearn'' is that each of the 5 heroines will get her own route, like in a dating game. As the author says, all 5 of them are "main" heroines, so they deserve this treatment.
92[[/folder]]
93
94[[folder:Audio Plays]]
95* Each volume of the audio drama ''AudioPlay/YandereHeaven'' has the listener in the role as a silent protagonist trapped between two {{Yandere}} male interests. The last two tracks on each volume are alternative endings with each boy. For example, track 7 on volume 1 is being locked in the house by your NotBloodSiblings brother, and track 8 is being locked in the house by your StalkerWithACrush[=/=]boy from school. The spin-off ''Yandere Heaven [=BLack=]'' has three endings in the first volume for Yumiyoshi: one with Kei, one with Nabari, and one with both of them.
96[[/folder]]
97
98[[folder:Comic Books]]
99* The final issue of the ''Countdown to Mystery'' mini-series provided four different endings for the ComicBook/DoctorFate storyline. This was due to the fact that the writer to the story, Creator/SteveGerber, [[DiedDuringProduction had passed away before writing the finale.]] Instead of creating an ending stepping on his toes, they had four different endings written and suggested the reader figure out what was the actual one.
100* Right before the end of the Two-Face-themed issue of ''ComicBook/JokersAsylum'', Joker breaks the fourth wall, demanding that the reader get a coin and flip it to determine a character's fate: Heads: The character happily reunites with his wife. Tails: He ends up killing himself. Panels are presented for both endings, though, as the Joker explains, only the coin flip determines what "really" happened.
101* ''{{ComicBook/Laika}}'': The original comic book ends with Laika dying inside the ''Sputnik 2'' satellite in space, as she did in real life. For the 25th anniversary of Big Planet Comics, Nick Abadzis was asked to draw a series of alternate endings. He obliged.
102** [[https://townsquare.media/site/622/files/2011/08/laika-alt-01-final2.jpg Ending 1]]: Korolev fools everyone, including Khrushchev and the KGB, into thinking Laika went to space inside ''Sputnik 2'', when she is actually ejected from the satellite 10,000 feet into the air and parachutes safely down to Earth to reunite with Yelena.
103** [[https://www.bigplanetcomics.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Laika-alt-02.jpg Ending 2]]: Laika gets sick and Albina boards ''Sputnik 2'' in her place. She survives a full seven days and is painlessly euthanized by the poisoned food in the capsule, as the scientists intended. The Russians win the space race, and Alexei Leonov's lunar lander is named in Albina's honor.
104** [[https://www.bigplanetcomics.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Laika-alt-03.jpg Ending 3]]: While in ''Sputnik 2'', Laika encounters a strange alien monolith, and is granted intelligence and a bigger head.
105** [[https://www.bigplanetcomics.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Laika-alt-04-SPREAD.jpg Ending 4]]: ''Sputnik 2'' explodes, and the cosmic rays change Laika into a super-powered dog known as Cosmodog. She returns to Earth, intent on reuniting with Yelena, and terrifies the scientists.
106[[/folder]]
107
108[[folder:Fan Works]]
109* There is a fan-made ending for ''Manga/DeathNote'' in which Light wins and lives to be an old man. He instructs Ryuk to go ahead and kill him, which he does. The rest of the chapter includes all of the deaths Light had written being inflicted on him. In the sense, he is becoming a Shinigami himself and is enduring the deaths of all his victims.
110* The first ''Fanfic/EdAbuse'' originally had two endings. In the second ending, [[WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy Ed]] did not forgive Sarah before dying, and she is eventually DrivenToSuicide. This ending was removed by the author for being too dark.
111* ''Fanfic/FantasyOfUtterRidiculousness'' has two of these, in keeping with the [[Franchise/TouhouProject source material]]:
112** The main story has the heroes surviving Suika's wrath [[spoiler:with help from Marisa]], having a victory meal at the Scarlet Devil Mansion, then heading home. No strings attached.
113** The Alternate Ending, which depicts what would happen if Megas had been able to counterattack Suika instead of dodging her final strike, [[spoiler:ends with the Mansion's library in ruins and Patchouli stuck in Jersey City until it can be rebuilt]].
114* ''Fanfic/FateFantasy'' has two endings akin to the two endings for each route of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''. The true ending has [[spoiler:the Servants returning to the Throne of Heroes]], while the good ending has [[spoiler:Rin preventing [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry]] from vanishing while Sakura becomes Saber's master so she can be with Shirou]].
115* ''VideoGame/FinalNights'':
116** ''VideoGame/FinalNights2SinsOfTheFather'':
117*** Pick Spring Bonnie as your suit before Night 1, lure a child after Night 1, kill him after Night 2, capture another child after Night 3, and kill him after Night 4. [[spoiler:The Good Ending plays. After Night 5 ends, a lengthy cutscene plays that recreates events from ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3'', in which William Afton destroys Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy in the abandoned Freddy Fazbear's Pizza and subsequently receiving his comeuppance when he is trapped, iron-maiden style, in the Spring Bonnie suit.]]
118*** Do the opposite of above (pick Fredbear's suit, don't kill a child, etc.). Even if you only register a choice, you will still get this ending. [[spoiler:The Bad Ending plays. After Night 5 ends, a short cutscene reveals that the whole events are simply William Afton's nightmare. He wakes up, relieved that they are not real.]]
119** ''VideoGame/FinalNights3NightmaresAwaken'':
120*** Before Night 5, do the following: complete all of Reaper Toy Chica's challenges without dying, find all Fredbear plushes, and pick "1" in all of the Atari-styled minigames. This will open the elevator in the Night 4 cutscene, which leads to Circus Baby's Pizza World. Inspect Circus Baby. After Night 5 ends, an interactive cutscene will play. Rapid click your mouse. [[spoiler:The Good Ending plays. Two short cutscenes play that show Karen successfully escaping Circus Baby's confinement and William entering a Spring Bonnie suit. Another interactive cutscene then plays, where you guide Kevin to escape from the hospital. While you can get jumpscared, this will only take you back to the bedroom, so take as much time as you need. Once you reach the lobby, Kevin meets his mother and sister's spirits, who welcome him to join them]].
121*** Do the same as above until you reach the interactive cutscene after Night 5. Stay put. [[spoiler:The FNAF Ending plays. Karen fails to escape Circus Baby.]]
122*** Fail to complete all of the above objectives. [[spoiler:The Bad Ending plays. Kevin experiences cardiac arrest and the doctors attempt to save him, [[TheHeroDies to no avail]].]]
123** ''VideoGame/FinalNights4FatesEntwined'':
124*** Answer Entwined Fredbear's questions correctly. [[spoiler:After the Insane animatronics kill Henry, we cut to the present, where Max Donovan heads to Fazbear's Fright to burn the place to the ground, putting things to a close.]]
125*** Answer Entwined Fredbear's questions wrongly. [[spoiler:The Puppet Master berates Max for not doing things right and muses that he can rectify them if the universe gives him a second chance (i.e. start all over again).]]
126* The ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' {{doujinshi}} ''From the New World, With Love'' has a cautiously optimistic ending that would best be described as {{bittersweet|Ending}}, but there are two sequels for it, one giving the characters a HappyEnding and the other giving them a DownerEnding instead. The good ending has [[spoiler:one character coming back wrong and ultimately dying, and the other character destroying himself to prevent the EnemyWithin him from surfacing, and both of them being reincarnated as normal humans]]. If that's considered the ''good'' ending, you don't want to know what the bad ending is like.
127* ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/17706/the-heart-of-a-dragon The Heart of a Dragon]]'' branches midway through, with an older Spike pursuing a relationship with either Rarity or [[spoiler:Celestia]].
128* ''Fanfic/KeepYourFriendsClose'': In addition to the ending of the original fic, "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/34795234 Bad ending]]" is a companion oneshot exploring an ending where Izuku [[spoiler:didn't know about his team being made entirely of traitors]].
129%%* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' {{Shipping}} fic ''In the Rain'' has two: basically, "They Do" and "They Don't".
130* ''[[Fanfic/OrDidItEatTheLittleGirl let's go out with a bang!]]'' presents Himiko -- and the reader -- with a SadisticChoice at its climax, as The Director goads her to decide [[spoiler:who to shoot]]. There are five options; the [[EarnYourHappyEnding best]] is still heavily [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]], while the rest [[spoiler:are varying shades of {{Downer Ending}}s with varying body counts]].
131* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fic ''Fanfic/TheMurderOfLilaRossi'', which has one canon ending revealing Lila's true killer but has a [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/22255240/chapters/55100542 bonus chapter]] with multiple alternate reveals.
132* The ''Manga/FairyTail'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10606669/1/The-Murder-Mystery-of-the-Fairy-Tail-Guild The Murder Mystery of the Fairy Tail]]'' guild has three distinct endings with a different murderer[[note]]Or [[spoiler:murderers in the case of the third ending]][[/note]] responsible for the series of deaths.
133* Similarly, there's the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' fanfic ''Pattycakes''. Both are a DownerEnding, but it's a TrollFic. You're not supposed to be happy.
134* In ''Fanfic/RelationshipsSeries'', there is an AlternateUniverse story called "Pain", which details what would have happened if Yuuno had been sent into combat. He gets injured and overtaxes his linker core, sending him into critical condition. In Ending A, [[spoiler:he dies, leaving Nanoha and Fate devastated, and the fic ends with his funeral]]. In Ending B, [[spoiler:he lives, but the main characters still have to protect him from some unethical scientists who want to get their hands on his damaged linker core]]. The authors indicated that this was already a hypothetical situation, so they should explore both outcomes.
135* Though ultimately scrapped, the author of ''Fanfic/RainbowFactory'' wrote three different endings, [[spoiler:though they're all still {{Downer Ending}}s in their own right]]:
136** First ending: [[spoiler:Dash starts beating Scootaloo to death when Scootaloo manages to break through to her, causing Dash to develop a SplitPersonality: [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone one side of her is horrified with herself for trying to kill her "little sister"]], while the other remains resentful of Scootaloo and keeps trying to kill her. Dash ends up struggling with herself before falling into her own machine, [[DyingAsYourself though her kind self wins over and apologizes to Scootaloo]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath before being ripped to shreds]]. Sadly, [[ShootTheShaggyDog Dr. Atmosphere shows up, murders Scootaloo, and manages to cover up the whole incident]].]]
137** Second ending: [[spoiler:Same as the first, except Scootaloo survives and the horrors of the Rainbow Facility have been exposed. However, [[BrokenBird Scootaloo is left thoroughly broken over the deaths of three of her friends]].]]
138** Third ending: [[spoiler:Similar to the first and second, except Scootaloo becomes a loner and never reveals the truth of the facility to the public since she is more or less implied to be forced to keep her mouth shut.]]
139* The last chapter of ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/18223139/chapters/43680776 Seven Stories]]'' provides an alternate ending to [[Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy the show]]'s first season; the [[spoiler:White Violin's power]] goes off, the heroes prepare to fight her, but Allison - having never [[spoiler:been mutilated in this reality]] - manages to persuade Luthor to try diplomacy first.
140-->''The story didn't always go like that, of course. Maybe sometimes she couldn't speak; maybe sometimes she didn't go alone; maybe sometimes any number of things could come to be. But let's talk about this time. Let's talk about now.''
141* Another ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fic, ''Fanfic/{{Silent Ponyville|Chronicles}}'', features multiple endings, much like [[Franchise/SilentHill the series of games]] it's based on.
142* The author of ''Fanfic/SonicXDarkChaos'' wrote several alternate endings for the rewrite.
143** Ending A is the ending of the original version.
144** Ending B is a gigantic DownerEnding where [[spoiler:[[TheBadGuyWins Dark Tails implodes the Dark Planet Egg]] and opens up a NegativeSpaceWedgie that swallows the galaxy and kills everyone. It's eventually vanquished, but neither the Demons nor the Angels ever recover from the resulting Shroud invasion.]]
145** Ending C is a slightly modified version of the original ending where [[spoiler:the Forerunners don't invade the universe]].
146** Ending D is a "[[BittersweetEnding good]]" ending; [[spoiler:Tails survives his battle with Dark Tails and successfully destroys the Dark Planet Egg, saving the universe. However, Dark Tails still lives.]]
147** Ending E is a silly ending where [[spoiler:[[TheDogWasTheMastermind Eric the Hedgehog]] [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall gets bored writing the story, deletes everything, and starts over from scratch]]]].
148* ''Webcomic/SpringtrapAndDeliah'': Starting from page 159, the comic's third act splits into 2 endings:
149** [[BittersweetEnding Light Ending]]: [[spoiler:With the help of Harry, Springtrap admits the truth to Deliah. Upon seeing that she is now afraid of him and realizing that he has caused too much pain to her and Nick, he decides to leave, implying he will off himself until Harry stops him by offering him a place at his house and mental help via his uncle. The last page ends with Deliah and her father reconciling.]]
150** [[DownerEnding Dark Ending]]: [[spoiler:Springtrap ultimately loses it and decides to kill Deliah so she can be with him forever as a spirit, just as he did with the other kids. The last page ends with Deliah getting caught by Springtrap after trying to run away from him, with her telling him to his face that she hates him and wished she never met him. Quinn personally considers this ending the true ending.]]
151* The ''Manga/ToLoveRu'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10223400/1/To-Love-DEATH To-Love-Death]]'' features an alternate ending in the extras page where [[spoiler:the whole story was imagined by Mikan, who is now suffering from autism and goes off into her own world whilst shaking a snow globe. However, this ending is most likely a joke as it's an almost word-for-word parody of the infamous ending to ''Series/StElsewhere''.]] Although, rather than a hospital being displayed in the snow globe, it's actually [[spoiler:a missile blowing up a helicopter full of children]].
152* The ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' fanfic ''What The Ed?'' by Dyl Man has 3 endings. The [[DownerEnding Sad Ending]], the HappyEnding, and [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment Silly Ending]]. The Sad Ending has [[spoiler:Tuluta Bottoms a.k.a. [[WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken The Red Guy]] calling the dog pound and having Ed and Nazz end up working in a glue factory]]. The Happy Ending has [[spoiler:Eddy realizing that he loves Nazz, not Tuluta, and sics [=SuperCow=] on Tuluta]]. The Silly Ending has [[spoiler:Tuluta butt-walk on Nazz, Nazz retaliating, Ed butt-walking on both girls, and Edd and Eddy butt-walking on Ed]].
153[[/folder]]
154
155[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
156* ''WesternAnimation/DCShowcaseBatmanDeathInTheFamily'' has a ''ton'' of these, all in the name of messing with [[ComicBook/ADeathInTheFamily Jason Todd's death]]:
157** Letting Jason die normally leads to a recap of the animated film ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood''.
158** If Jason survives by sheer luck, he's given nasty burn scars, leading him to take up a Robin-like costume and bandages up his face, making him look like Hush. He ends up joining Talia al Ghul with the plan to raise Damian to become the ultimate weapon against Batman.
159** If Batman saves Jason, it's ''Batman'' who dies. Dick takes over as Batman as Bruce is buried with his parents. This splits up into a ''ton'' of paths and a ton of endings.
160*** If Jason decides to uphold his vow to Bruce to not kill, he'll take up the mantle of the Red Hood to lure out the Joker, only for the Joker to reveal that he's been murdering criminals and repressing his memories of them. After this encounter, Jason confronts Talia with a revived but crazed Bruce. If Jason spares Joker, he saves Bruce and the Bat-Family vow to help Bruce return to normal. If Jason kills Joker, then all three of them die in an explosion by Bruce.
161*** If Jason decides not to uphold the vow and murders Joker in a diner, he can be captured and becomes a kingpin inside the jail system known as "Jaybird". If he escapes, he becomes Red Robin, where he begins killing other criminals until he faces Two Face, who has him dead to rights and flips his coin. Heads, Jason's saved by Tim Drake, who is able to redeem Jason and is rewarded by turning him into "Batkid". Tails, and Two-Face leaves Jason in a FateWorseThanDeath.
162[[/folder]]
163
164[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
165* ''Film/Die1000AugenDesDrMabuse'' has two slightly different cuts of the final scene, one of which indicates that the female romantic lead Marion dies from the gunshot wound she received towards the end of the plot, and one which indicates that she will survive. In national stereotyping terms, it will not surprise anyone that the USA was one of the markets that got the happy ending, and France one of the ones that got the sad one.
166* In ''Film/AfterTheDark'', a philosophy teacher challenges his class to (theoretically) survive an atomic apocalypse. No matter what they do, they all end up dying, because none of the students want to make the moral sacrifices their teacher [[{{Railroading}} insists]] would be necessary to "win". They eventually succeed, but doing so requires them to change their definition of what success is.
167-->"[[FaceDeathWithDignity In my apocalypse, no one is worth more than anyone else.]]"
168* As ''Film/BlackMirrorBandersnatch'' is an interactive [[{{Gamebooks}} Choose Your Own Adventure]] film based on the making of a [[{{Gamebooks}} Choose Your Own Adventure]] ''game'', this is to be expected. There are several different endings, which change depending on the choices you make throughout the film. [[spoiler:Endings include Stefan releasing a terrible game, a mediocre one, a fantastic one, or not releasing one at all; have Stefan die or go insane and become a murderer; or enter surreal MetaFiction territory with Stefan becoming aware of ''the viewer themselves'' controlling his actions through Creator/{{Netflix}}.]]
169* ''Film/{{Chase}}'' has two endings: In the first the protagonist chooses SuicideByCop, but it turns out to be [[AllJustADream just his imagination]]. In the proper ending, he escapes [[spoiler:with the help of his hostage]].
170* The movie ''Film/{{Clue}}'' has three different endings; during its theatrical run, different endings would be shown in different theaters. On the home videotape release, all three endings were shown, with title cards between explaining that any of them ''could'' have happened, but only the third actually ''did happen''. In the DVD version, the viewer may choose to see one particular ending, see all three (as in the VHS release), or even have the DVD player choose an ending at random.\
171There was also a fourth ending that was ditched from the film because [[DarkerAndEdgier it didn't fit with the comedic tone of the rest of the movie]]. Unfortunately, the fourth ending has never been released to the general public.
172* The DVD version of ''Film/FinalDestination3'', "The Thrill Ride Edition", has four different endings (including the theatrical ending), thanks to the "[[{{Gamebooks}} Choose Their Fate]]" feature.
173* The movie ''Film/HeiseiRiderVsShowaRiderKamenRiderWarsFeaturingSuperSentai'' has two endings, one where the Showa Riders win and one where the Heisei Riders win. Which version ended up shown in the theaters (the Heisei ending, as it turned out), was decided by an online poll, with the Showa ending relegated to the home releases.
174* ''Film/Holocaust2000'': There is an alternate ending that continues after Robert has fled with Sara and his newborn child to escape his diabolical son Angel where Robert shows up at an airport several months later. It's implied that he returned to plant a bomb at Angel's corporate meeting in Geneva to stop him from destroying the world. The original was a straight-up TheBadGuyWins ending.
175* ''Film/KingKongVsGodzilla'' does actually ''not'' have multiple endings, as claimed by [[UrbanLegends some people]], where King Kong wins and Godzilla wins. WordOfGod says the winner was always intended to be [[spoiler:King Kong]].
176* The ''Film/LittleShopOfHorrors'' Director's Cut Blu-Ray allows viewers to choose whether Audrey II eats Audrey and Seymour, then [[TakeOverTheWorld takes over the world]] (as seen in test screenings), or Audrey and Seymour survive, then Seymour blows Audrey II up (as seen during the original theatrical release).
177* ''Love'', a 1927 American adaptation of ''Film/AnnaKarenina'', has two endings--Tolstoy's original, DownerEnding, and a new happy ending in which Anna and Vronsky are reunited. Tolstoy's ending was shown internationally, while American exhibitors were given a choice of endings, with some picking happy and some picking Tolstoy.
178* ''Film/ManOnFire'': In the original ending Creasy ends up dying from previously-sustained wounds while being driven to the main villain "The Ghost" after agreeing to trade himself in for Pita, with a coda showing that the Mexican detective who was following his progress ended up shooting the Ghost during the arrest. An alternate ending were shot where Creasy, though still mortally wounded, lives long enough to meet the Ghost face to face and exchange a few words before Creasy uses a bomb to kill them both.
179* William Castle's ''Film/MrSardonicus'' allegedly had two endings, shown depending upon whether the audience gave a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down". However, Castle only ever filmed the "thumbs down" version.
180* ''Film/ParanormalActivity'' has three, each one a DownerEnding. It's a horror flick, what did you expect?
181** The theatrical ending has [[spoiler:possessed!Katie tossing Micah's dead body into the bedroom before leaping at the camera]].
182** The second ending has [[spoiler:Katie (no longer possessed) walk into the bedroom with the knife used to kill Micah. She sits on the bed, knees drawn up to her, for what is presumably hours. The next morning the police arrive and Katie walks downstairs. She is shot for being considered a threat, as she still has the knife and isn't listening to the police's orders.]]
183** The third (and most horrific) has [[spoiler:possessed!Katie calmly enter the bedroom with the knife. She locks the door and looks at the camera, [[SlasherSmile a smile on her face]]. She then slits her throat and falls down dead.]]
184* The DVD of ''Film/PeterPan'' features an alternative ending where [[spoiler:Peter comes back and Wendy is grown up, but she has a daughter named Jane, who flies off with Peter]], which itself was the book's original ending.
185* The first [[UsefulNotes/ThreeDMovie 3D feature film]], ''The Power of Love'' (1922), used its 3D anaglyph system to achieve this. Depending on whether the viewer watched the ending through the green or the red lens of the 3D glasses, they'd see a happy or a sad ending (it probably helped that it was a silent movie, so it didn't have spoken dialogue that wouldn't fit both versions).
186* The Korean movie ''Film/ResurrectionOfTheLittleMatchstickGirl'' features two endings. One "bad" where the game ends and the main character returns to his normal life and one "good" where he manages to save the eponymous matchstick girl.
187* ''Film/RunLolaRun'' is either this or a GroundhogDayLoop. [[MindScrew It's not clear.]]
188* ''Film/UnfriendedDarkWeb'' is notable for being the first wide-release movie since ''Clue'' to have multiple endings in theaters.
189* Spoofed by the ending(s) of ''Film/WaynesWorld'', which are, in order, the Sad Ending, the Scooby Doo Ending, and the Super Mega Happy Ending. ''Wayne's World 2'' has the sad ending, the ''Film/ThelmaAndLouise'' ending, and the happy ending. Only the two happy endings are "canon"; Wayne and Garth simply rejected the others.
190* ''Film/ZootSuit'': The end has Henry and the other defendants triumphantly greeting their families after their release from prison. El Pachuco says that sure, that ''could'' be the HappyEnding--but no, Henry eventually went back to prison and wasted his life with alcohol and drugs. Another character says, no, Henry served in the Korean War and was killed in 1952, winning the Congressional Medal of Honor. Another character says that, no, Henry married Della, settled down, and had five children.[[note]]The [[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/zoot-enrique-henry-reyes-leyvas/ real person]] that Henry is based on did in fact soon go back to jail for drug dealing and assault, and served ten years, but later opened up a restaurant before he died of a heart attack in 1971.[[/note]]
191[[/folder]]
192
193[[folder:Gamebooks]]
194* This is prevalent in the ''Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure'' book series. There were other books of this ilk published at the time, but this was by far the best known and longest-running. Most of the "endings" to the books result [[NonstandardGameOver in your death]], but there are typically a few endings where you win, although there are some which are bittersweet [[spoiler:(in ''Who Killed Harlowe Thrombey?'' you can get an ending where you never solve the mystery and others where other characters solve it instead of you; in ''The House On Chimney Rock'' one ending has ''you'' survive, but your cousin vanishes and is never seen again)]].
195* The ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' gamebooks usually only had one true ending but a lot of "bad endings" that were more like Non-Standard Game Overs. Books that had you gather PlotCoupons usually had a NonStandardGameOver amounting to "Since you failed to gather the relevant things, you cannot defeat the BigBad/open the last door/return with honor".
196* ''Literature/TheCrimsonTide'' has only one ''true'' good ending, where you avenged your hometown's destruction, but there are several endings where you [[RefusalOfTheCall refuse to accept your quest]], at which point the story ends with you becoming a successful merchant, sailor, gladiator, farmer, monk... there are in fact several online playthroughs on how to reach the various endings ''without'' achieving revenge.
197* ''Literature/LifesLottery'' has ''tons'' of possible endings to your character's life, many of them extremely depressing or at the very least extremely bittersweet. Among other things, you can die an untimely death, you can find yourself in a dead-end career, you can become a criminal and end up going to jail, you can achieve success through supernatural power, you can romantically pursue numerous characters, and you can even find yourself completely rewriting your history through MentalTimeTravel... but for some reason, all nonlethal endings feature the line '''And so on.''' [[spoiler:This because your character doesn't actually end the story there at all, but continues exploring possibilities in your dreams of the multiverse.]]
198* ''Literature/MurderAtColefaxManor'' has many, many potential endings.
199[[/folder]]
200
201[[folder:Literature]]
202* Some of the fairy tales of Creator/TheBrothersGrimm are given in multiple versions with the same basic framework, which shouldn't be surprising, given that they were compiled from memory and oral tradition across several regions. The most straightforward example is ''The Marriage of Mrs. Fox'': Mr. Fox decides to [[FakingTheDead pretend to be dead]] to test his wife's fidelity. She rejects multiple suitors who soon come calling, but when she finds someone exactly like her late husband, she agrees to marry him. Which ending you prefer -- the one in which Mr. Fox reveals himself at the wedding and chases his wife, the maid, and all the guests away ([[PyrrhicVictory leaving him with nobody]]), or the one in which they promptly toss him out -- presumably depends on where your sympathies lie.
203* ''Literature/TheLittlePrince'' has an in-universe example where the author realizes that he [[spoiler:has made the sheep's muzzle impossible to wear]] and therefore there are two possible outcomes for the little prince's rose; either [[spoiler:the sheep eats the rose]] or it does not. The author notes that the world appears to change depending on what he thinks has happened.
204* Marcus Pfister's children picture book ''Milo and the Magical Stones'' and its sequel ''Milo and the Mysterious Island'' both branch into two endings halfway through the story where the pages become segmented into two parts, with the top part showing a "Happy Ending" and the bottom part a "Sad Ending" based on the [[AnAesop aesop]] of that book.
205* ''Literature/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'' has an-universe example: In fictional otome game Fortune Lover, the good and bad endings for the Keith and Geordo routes are Catarina either getting exiled after being denounced over her harrasment of Maria or murdered by the love interest — prospects she's terrified of. For Alan's route, they are respectively Mary letting Maria marry him, and Alan and Mary getting married. The "monkey girl" was never able to finish Nicol's route before she died, so Catarina doesn't know how it ends. The bad ending of the "hidden" route involves all of the main cast dying. According to Catarina, there are also Reverse Harem and Friendship routes.
206** [[spoiler:In Fortune Lover 2, which is [[CuttingOffTheBranches set after the Friendship ending]], the endings are essentially the same regardless of which of the seven capture targets Maria courts: in the good ending, Maria and her lover uncover Catarina's infiltration and schemes and get her arrested; in the bad ending, Catarina and Maria kill each other in a magic duel, and all the capture targets perish due to the dark magic. Since reincarnated Catarina never knew this sequel even existed up until entering the magic ministry, she is afraid of being arrested or dying (even if by this point that's impossible).]]
207* The Jeffrey Archer short story ''One Man's Meat'' begins with a man meeting the woman of his dreams, and then has four separate endings. [[spoiler:There's a reasonably HappyEnding where they hit it off and agree to meet up again, but before that there are three more unfortunate endings: either the guy finds out she's a lesbian, or he finds out that she's married (but not before she has a one night stand with him), or he finds out she's married right away and his evening just gets worse from there.]]
208* ''Preserve and Protect'', the fourth novel in Allen Drury's ''Advise and Consent'' series, was followed by two alternate endings in ''Come Nineveh, Come Tyre'' and ''The Promise of Joy''.
209* The WebOriginalFiction ''Literature/TheStoryOfMyNewHouse'' has two endings, a "good" one and a bad one. In the bad ending [[spoiler:the father of the main character is possessed by a demonic force and he murders his son and wife]]. In the good ending, [[spoiler:he is able to [[HeroicWillPower resist]] his DemonicPossession and saves his son and wife, before dying. The story concludes with the main character expressing how much he misses his father]].
210* ''Literature/ThreeWorldsCollide'' has a Normal End ([[spoiler:the humans destroy the place where the story happened, destroying their ship in the process]]) and a True End ([[spoiler:the Superhappies re-engineer the other two species to be happy and not eat as many babies]]). Incidentally, the author is very much a Nasu fan.
211[[/folder]]
212
213[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
214* The short-lived series ''Series/JackAndBobby'' may have done this in an episode where the boys' mother is working for [[UsefulNotes/HillaryRodhamClinton Hillary Clinton's]] nomination at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. The show was filmed months before the actual convention, but in the final scene, Bobby mentions that Clinton lost the nomination (which really happened). It seems likely that the same scene was also shot with Bobby saying Clinton had won.
215* The final series of ''Series/JeopardyCBBC'' had three different endings that viewers selected via phone-in, choosing from a "spooky", "happy" or "surprising" ending. The "spooky" ending, which won the first time the series was aired, left the characters' fate unclear; when the series was repeated, the vote was run again, and this time the "happy" ending (which was effectively the same as the "spooky" ending but with the final twist removed) won. The "surprising" ending was never aired.
216* ''Franchise/KamenRider:''
217** ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'' has the ending to the TV series, the film ''EPISODE FINAL and 13 Riders'', a televised special which was an alternate retelling of the whole series, which had viewers vote on the ending. [[spoiler:Subverted, since all the endings save for the TV series presumably end with a timeloop back to square one]].
218** Many of the "Hyper Battle Video" special [=DVDs=] allow the viewer to choose the ending. For example, ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'''s HBV allows the viewer to choose whether Fourze or [[Series/KamenRiderAmazon Amazon]] delivers the final blow to the enemy.
219** ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' plays with the trope with its post-series movies. The first, titled ''[[BlatantLies True Ending]]'', is the FissionMailed ending which leads into Ex-Aid's crossover movie with Kamen Rider Build, at the end of a plot which has essentially nothing to do with the events of the show. The three ''Another Ending'' movies collectively comprise the actual GoldenEnding.
220* ''Medical Center'' produced the 1971 episode "Countdown" with three different endings, as part of a controversial social experiment conducted by psychologist Stanley Milgram. The experiment would attempt to determine whether or not a person would be more likely to commit a crime after viewing it on television. The episode centers around an aggressive hospital orderly who, beset with serious financial troubles, is tempted to steal money from charity boxes placed throughout the city. The ending would be one of three scenarios: he steals money and gets punished, he steals money and does not get punished, or he does not steal money at all, and also drops some change into the box. Audience members would come across a similar "charity box" directly after the episode's showing, and would be monitored as to if the ending they saw would inspire them to imitate the character's actions. The results were inconclusive. The full details of Milgram's experiment are published in the book ''Television and Antisocial Behavior: Field Experiments''.\
221Different endings were shown depending on your television market (though Warner Bros. states that most markets viewed the "punished" ending in its original run). Warner Archive Collection's DVD release of ''Medical Center: the Complete Second Season'' includes all three endings of "Countdown".
222* Depending on which version of ''Series/MissionImpossible'''s "The Bank" you're watching, the bad guy's attempt to escape results in [[spoiler:either a DisneyVillainDeath or the discovery that his escape route has been sealed off, thus meaning he's captured. The version on the [=DVD=] is the latter]].
223* One episode of ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' ended with the customer choosing between several endings.
224* The ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "Only the Good" had an unfinished alternate ending where Rimmer successfully returns with the formula memorized (after several tries, too, and the group's still there) and they save the ''Dwarf''. The evac ships are left to fend for themselves. And Rimmer still ends up shot with a can by the vending machine. All in all it matches up to "Back to Earth" better than the ending that was used, as it explains why they're alone on the ship again and why Rimmer is a hologram. When the series was being prepared for DVD release, Doug Naylor gave some serious consideration to reinstating this ending in place of the LeftHanging ending that was ultimately used, before realising that the SFX on the alternate ending wasn't complete and it was impractical to complete it on the DVD's budget.
225* The [=ITV=] drama ''Rock Rivals'', about the backstage shenanigans on a ''Series/PopIdol''-style talent show, had two endings filmed, and viewers were asked to vote for which fictional act should win the show. The [=DVD=] recreates this as an interactive feature: just before the winner is announced, it asks you to choose who should win. Oddly, if you just let the menu time out without making a choice, it defaults to the ''opposite'' ending to the one shown on TV.
226* The ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' episode "Inna-Gadda-Sabrina", in which Salem swallows Sabrina's Time Ball and sends everyone to TheSixties, has two endings. In both versions of the episode, Salem flees Sabrina and the aunts before the last commercial break, leaving them without the Time Ball. When ABC first televised this installment, the end credits showed Salem hitching a hippie bus to Philadelphia, setting up a crossover with ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld''. The end credits sequence for reruns and the DVD shows Sabrina and the aunts back in TheNineties, talking about how fortunate it was that Salem returned, and also revealed that they locked him in his litterbox until he could return the Time Ball.
227* The ''Series/SesameStreet'' film insert about a rolling ball kinetic sculpture on the number 3 has two endings. One has a kid cranking a sand-machine, the other has three cherries on sundae (Jim Henson's daughter played the girl who tasted the cherry on her sundae ice cream).
228* In ''Series/TheThundermans'' episode "Phoebe vs. Max: The Sequel", the family's recent child, Chloe, has three possible choices to what will be her permanent superpower: super strength, teleportation, or sonic screaming. The crew filmed three different endings to the episode pertaining to which power Chloe ends up with. The teleportation ending is what made the final cut.
229* There was a long-running television series in Brazil called ''Você Decide'', [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} the other wiki]] claiming it could be localized as either You Decide or It's Your Call, based entirelly on the concept of multiple endings for every episode. It had three blocks and a choice was given to the main character of the episode on the first block, where viewers would call one of two (later three) phone numbers to vote for the ending to be shown on the third block, the second one being mostly to develop the story and maybe balance viewer's opinion. There were cases like one of the first episodes where [[WhatYouAreInTheDark the audience's chosen ending was considered immoral afterwards]], or one episode where votes were so close both endings were shown.
230[[/folder]]
231
232[[folder:Music]]
233* There's a term in music called a UsefulNotes/DeceptiveCadence. Basically, it's that sequence of notes where you feel like the song should end, but something seems off.
234* And what about [[FakeOutFadeOut those songs that fade out and then come back?]]
235* "Almost Here", a duet between Music/DeltaGoodrem and Music/BrianMcFadden, features a video showing Brian going to meet Delta at an airport. The two of them have difficulty finding each other, until Delta leaves in a taxi. In the "sad" ending, shown on music TV shows, she is driven away alone. The CD single has the video on it as CD-ROM content, and this version has the "happy" ending where he catches up with the taxi and they're reunited.
236* Music/TheCardigans:
237** "My Favourite Game" has four endings: After causing sheer mayhem on the road by putting a rock on her gas pedal, the driver crashes her car onto an oncoming van. She either:
238*** ...gets flung off the car but not much worse for wear afterwards.
239*** ...gets flung off the car, apparently being unscathed before the rock lands on her head.
240*** ...gets flung off the car and ends up dead on the road.
241*** ...gets decapitated in the crash.
242** "Erase/Rewind" also has two endings: The band is stuck in a room with [[TheWallsAreClosingIn walls that close in on them]], and they either manage to save themselves, or get squashed.
243* Music/{{Vocaloid}} artist Music/CosMo featured this in one his series. "Demise of Hatsune Miku" is the worst end, "Disappearance of Hatsune Miku" the bad end, "∞" the true end, and "Intense Singing of Hatsune Miku" is the "Happy End".
244* "Empty Cans", the final song off The Streets' ConceptAlbum "A Grand Don't Come For Free", has this. [[spoiler:In the first ending, our protagonist blames everyone else for his problems, tells his friend Scott to fuck off, ends up fighting the TV repairman who comes to fix his set, and decides humanity is generally against his existence. A tape rewinds, and we are brought to the second ending. Mike decides to let Scott come over anyway, who finds the aforementioned "grand" when repairing Mike's TV. Mike realizes everyone's got their own problems and responsibilities to take care of, and looks at life with a new perspective.]] The music changes to fit the mood: Both endings start with an identical drum loop, but the "bad ending" accompanies it with tense-sounding bass and synth-strings, while the "good" one accompanies it with hopeful-sounding piano chords.
245* ''Music/KagerouProject'': "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOY2EtbYI1U Summertime Record]]" is the series' GoldenEnding, where [[spoiler:the Blindfold Gang go their separate ways, but promise they'll all meet again]], while "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0q7B1W6ANs Outer Science]]" is the... not so good ending.
246* Russian urban romance song "Kirpichiki" ("Little Bricks") comes with two sets of lyrics. In one, the heroine's significant other perishes in the trenches of World War I. In the other, they both survive, find happiness, and rebuild the titular brick factory.
247* Music/WeirdAlYankovic has the song "[[BadSanta The Night Santa Went Crazy]]", which has two endings depending on the version. In the original song Santa is captured and sent to prison, while in the Extra Gory Version Santa is killed and some of the other details are changed or left out.
248* "Ocean Avenue" by Music/{{Yellowcard}}. Three possible endings to the video's plot are shown.
249[[/folder]]
250
251[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
252* In the BodyHorror role-playing game ''Abnormal'', there are three [[RolePlayingEndgame end game scenarios]] dependent on the number and position of shards (tokens) in play:
253** Utterly Consumed: If there are seven or more shards on the four Stage cards, the Witness is consumed by the horrors that haunt them; it might involve [[TransformationHorror turning into a horrible monster]], DemonicPossession, or simply [[SanitySlippage being driven irreversibly mad]].
254** Permanently Intertwined: If there are two or more shards on the Normalize stage, the Witness avoids being overcome by the Horror, but is unable to completely remove it. Reluctantly or otherwise, they must somehow learn to live with the Horror, whether trying to disguise a PartialTransformation or find a harmless way to appease a lingering HorrorHunger.
255** Life Reclaimed: If the Witness manages to remove and reclaim four or more shards from the Stage cards, they successfully drive off the Horror and get their life back... for now.
256* The original ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' adventures had six different possible win conditions; the DungeonMaster chooses one in secret before running the final module. One of them was used as the canon ending in the {{novelization}} (the ''Dragonlance Chronicles'' trilogy), but woe could come to {{Metagame}}rs who play the adventures after reading the books, as in one of the other endings, performing the action that seals the gate in the novels actually makes the game {{unwinnable}}.
257* As one of the few ''Franchise/ChroniclesOfDarkness'' works to feature a definite RoleplayingEndgame, ''TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated'' has a continuity of different endings depending on how many Refinements the character has mastered. If the Promethean has mastered only four Refinements (the minimum required to approach the New Dawn), then after the New Dawn he will awaken with near-total amnesia, but with his human life encoded into the world, complete with all appropriate documentation and his existence ret-conned into the memories of those with whom he should have been interacting. As he masters more Refinements, he can choose either to retain memories of his Promethean existence, or to gain false memories of the human life he created for himself, until at nine Refinements he has full recall of whichever life he chose. With all ten Refinements mastered, he gains a single opportunity to rethink that choice: when he first hits a breaking point after the New Dawn he will briefly recall both lives, and can choose again which he wishes to keep.
258* The ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' boxed set adventure "Bleak House" provided for four different possible endings, as determined by players' choices throughout the last portion of the campaign arc. While many RPG adventures provide two or more concluding text-blocks to read, depending on whether the heroes win or lose, "Bleak House" went much farther, arranging for a prolonged buildup to whichever climax was selected to occur.
259[[/folder]]
260
261[[folder:Theatre]]
262* The musical ''Theatre/{{Drood}}'', based on the uncompleted Charles Dickens story ''Literature/TheMysteryOfEdwinDrood'', has an audience vote decide who the murderer is.
263* ''Theatre/TheLieutenantOfInishmore'' has two alternate closing lines depending on whether the cat playing Wee Thomas eats food offered to it or not. Required since it's pretty impossible to train a real cat to do the same thing every night.
264* Donald Marguiles's play ''The Loman Family Picnic'' features four endings performed in quick succession, each dramatic in a different way, until the final "real" ending.
265* Creator/AynRand's play ''Night of January 16th'' features an unusual form of AudienceParticipation: a jury is selected from the audience, and at the end of the play, they determine whether the defendant is guilty or not.
266* The stage play ''Shear Madness'' works identically to ''Theatre/{{Drood}}'', mentioned above, but with NoFourthWall; the characters are aware of and interact with the audience throughout the play, and suggest audience members' theories to the group.
267* Ferdinand von Schirach's ''Theatre/TerrorIhrUrteil'' takes an approach similar to ''Night of January 16th'', providing two alternate endings, depending on whether or not the audience, who act as lay judges, find the defendant (an air force pilot who shot down a hijacked passenger airliner against his superiors' orders) guilty of murder.
268[[/folder]]
269
270[[folder:Theme Parks]]
271* Walibi Belgium's Challenge of Tutankhamon is a target shooter that gives alternate endings depending on your score. Fail to reach a certain threshold, and the ride vehicle makes an early exit as a character warns you remain cursed, skipping a final sequence where riders pass through a room of golden treasures those who did score high enough pass.
272* Ride/{{Horizons}}, a long defunct ([[CultClassic and much missed]]) ride at [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Walt Disney World's Epcot]] contained one of the earliest examples of this trope in a theme park attraction. Its finale allowed riders to choose from one of three POV fly-through films depicting their journey back to the future point from one of three out of the four futuristic communities it featured (Brava Centauri, Mesa Verde and Sea Castle, dubbed "Space", "Desert" and "Undersea" respectively on the choice tree).
273* In ''Ride/MenInBlackAlienAttack'' at [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal Studios Florida]], how the ride turns out all depends on how high the average score the vehicles end up with. The endings are as follows:
274** ''Bug Bait'': If you do absolutely abysmally, J will mock your performance before neuralizing you.
275** ''Cosmically Average'': The most common ending for guests. You are told by J that [[NotBad you're good]], but not good enough before getting neuralized.
276** ''[[GoldenEnding Galaxy Defender]]'': J highly praises your performance and it's said that your suits will be ready "next Wendesday". [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption However, you still end up getting neuralized anyway.]]
277* All of the sequences in ''Ride/StarTours'' at the Ride/DisneyThemeParks are completely randomized, including the endings. The ending scenarios include journeying to Naboo and the Gungan City, going to Coruscant and partaking in a battle in the sky, and accidentally ending up at the site of the Death Star along with being confronted by Boba Fett before speeding back to the Rebel base.
278[[/folder]]
279
280[[folder:Web Animation]]
281* ''WebAnimation/BowsersKingdom'' episode 666 has two endings. One has Geno breaking free from Zombie Steve's grasp and taking out the rest of the zombies. The other has Hal and Jeff turning into zombies and talking about the positive side about being zombies while feasting on Luigi's corpse. Jeff complains about how bad they smell.
282* ''WebAnimation/TheGodAndDevilShow'': Every episode can end with the guest going to either Heaven or Hell.
283* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': The 2005 HalloweenEpisode "Halloween Potion-ma-jig" has the viewer [[GameBooks guide Homestar through a quest]] to find ingredients for [[MagicPotion Marzipan's Halloween potion]], which Homestar had carelessly doodled on. Depending on the choices made, the final potion has one of five effects on Homestar, turning him into either a cyclops, Tofu Homestar from the earlier short "The Luau", a suave Frenchman, a clone of Marzipan, or the Goblin.
284* ''WebAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsDigitalSeries'' has a series of episodes where viewers can choose one of three endings. Several of them involve a story arc about Canterlot High putting on a SchoolPlay:
285** "Best Trends Forever!" has Rarity doing a fashion report for the school news channel, and having to choose between Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, or Pinkie Pie as inspiration for a new fashion trend.
286** "Driving Miss Shimmer" has Sunset Shimmer struggling to pass her driver's test, and seeking help from either Applejack, Fluttershy, or Rarity.
287** "Text Support" has Twilight Sparkle getting a strange text message from her crush Timber Spruce, and seeking advice on how to respond from either Fluttershy, Sunset Shimmer, or Rarity.
288** "Fluttershy's Butterflies" has Fluttershy seeking help from either Applejack, Rainbow Dash, or DJ Pon-3 in overcoming her stage fright so she can audition for the school play.
289** "Stressed in Show" has Twilight stressing out over her efforts to help with the school play, and trying to relax with the help of either Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, or Pinkie Pie.
290** In "Rarity Investigates: The Case of the Bedazzled Boot", Rarity tries to find a prop for the school play that's gone missing, and interrogates either Pinkie Pie, Trixie Lulamoon, or Applejack about the boot.
291** In "All the Worlds Off Stage", Sunset asks either Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, or Micro Chips for help handling the sets during the school play.
292** In "Constructive Criticism", Applejack injures herself working on sets for the school play, and seeks help finishing from either Pinkie Pie, Photo Finish, or Rainbow Dash.
293** In "Opening Night", when the final scene of the big school play goes awry and leaves Fluttershy in an awkward position, either Sunset Shimmer, Applejack, or Twilight Sparkle needs to help her.
294** In "Happily Ever After Party", the Cutie Mark Crusaders seek help from either Applejack, Rainbow Dash, or Rarity in convincing Mr. Cranky to let them borrow an overhead projector for their after-party presentation.
295* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'': The 100th episode. The link to the video is actually three different links to videos whose only difference were the endings. The first is probably the "bad ending" with everyone killing each other, the second would be a "[[GainaxEnding weird ending]]", with the entire canyon destroyed and the series being shown to be a ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' multiplayer match, and last is the [[BittersweetEnding relatively good ending]], with the two teams returning to their endless stalemate. The DVDCommentary and future series confirms the good ending is official (which is no surprise) and also has ''four more'' endings: one in which aliens suddenly show up, kill everyone, and reenact the first episode; a remake of the "fight ending" with WhereAreTheyNow text added in (false WhereAreTheyNow text when later seasons are considered, it should be noted); an AllJustADream ending where the entire season was hallucinated by Church after being shot by the tank; and one where Andy doesn't detonate, with Tex instead just turning the ship around and blowing everyone up.
296* ''WebAnimation/SomethingAbout VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' has two endings depending on if you decide to save the animals before Zebes blows up or not:
297** If you decide to let them die, [[spoiler:Samus leaves them to their deaths and they die one by one before the planet explodes. Samus retires from bounty hunting and joins the F-ZERO circuit.]]
298** If you decide to save them, [[spoiler:Samus escapes with the four animals, only to find out [[VideoGame/MetroidFusion they're actually X Parasites]] and their rampage crashes them on Titania, where Samus is saved by Slippy, who was abandoned there in ''Something About VideoGame/StarFox64''. The two end up escaping the planet and Slippy is reunited with Team Star Fox, much to Falco's despair. ''Something About Smash Bros THE SUBSPACE EMISSARY'' implies this is the canon ending, as Samus' first scene is hanging out with Team Star Fox with Slippy in his Titania outfit.]]
299** There's also a third, hidden ending, where [[spoiler:you take too long and Samus decides to just abandon them, only to find a space pirate in her ship. She attempts to get in her ship as it takes off, but she falls off. However, thanks to the power of alternate realities, Samus is able to escape the planet.]]
300* ''WebAnimation/TearFactor'': It has three endings which are shown if either Daffy Duck, Sylvester, or Yosemite Sam win, which makes them cry.
301[[/folder]]
302
303[[folder:Websites]]
304* ''Website/{{Starfall}}'' had a few stories where the ending is different:
305** The "Car Ride" story ends with either Carla or Mark winning depending on who is in the lead during the racetrack page.
306** In "The Woman Runner", the adaptation based on the Greek story of Atalanta, Atalanta challenges a handsome Prince to a race and if he wins, he will marry her. The second-to-last page features a minigame where the two race each other. If the Prince wins, Atalanta happily agrees to marry him; if Atalanta wins, the Prince asks if she still wants to marry him, and she says she'll think about it.
307[[/folder]]
308
309[[folder:Web Original]]
310* "The Good Ending / The Bad Ending" has become a popular [[MemeticMutation meme]] online since 2020 (especially on the Spanish-speaking part of the web), usually featuring a FauxtivationalPoster labeled with the type of ending and accompanied by an image of the hypothetical conclusion of a meme / cultural phenomenon, set to some music (the music choice varies depending on the meme itself and the type of ending, although most "Bad Ending" memes feature the Bad Ending music from ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3''). More info can be found [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/good-ending-bad-ending here]].
311* In ''VideoGame/TodayIDie'', the protagonist can free herself from a metaphorical depression on her own, or with the help of a young man. Although they're both happy endings, people tend to find one more appealing than the other.
312* Website/WritingDotCom features [[{{Gamebooks}} Interactive Stories]] where stories can have multiple endings, depending on the reader's choices.
313[[/folder]]
314
315[[folder:Web Videos]]
316* One Bytejacker episode has the host run all over town looking for a UV filter for the cameraman. After searching for maps in trees and fighting strangers via rock-paper-scissors, he ends up getting a bad ending for taking too long.
317* ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier'':
318** The video "Jeux de baston 2[[superscript:ème]] édition" has several endings.
319** The ''Mass Effect'' episode of ''Papy Grenier'' has three different endings: DESTRUCTION, CONTRÔLE and SYNTHÈSE.
320* The infamous interactive Quicktime movie ''Play With Me'' features multiple endings. Subversion: They're ALL the bad ending.
321* ''WebVideo/PositivelyDreadful'''s look at ''VideoGame/Infamous2'' is split into two videos, essentially forming two separate reviews for the ''Good'' and ''Evil'' paths.
322* WebVideo/{{Jacksfilms}} made two "choose your own adventure" videos, one for making your own episode of YIAY and another for creating [[YouTuberApologyParody your own apology video]]. The different choices you make lead to dozens of other endings.
323* The Website/YouTube channel [[https://www.youtube.com/@HusaviProductions/videos Husavi Productions]] does videos called "all endings" which feature countries and different outcomes for them, as if the different outcomes were various video game endings. There are usually at least half a dozen per video, ranging from standard good and bad endings to AlternateTimeline endings (for example, one ending for the United Kingdom involves [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfPlantagenet the Plantagenets]] having managed to conquer and hold France during UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar until they integrated England and France into one kingdom), to joke endings to BizarroUniverse endings (for example, Aztecs or other New World peoples conquering part or all of Europe), and multiple others. Some standard outcomes that feature i nearly all the videos include a country falling apart due to separatist movements or civil war, becoming Communist or remaining Communist after the fall of Communism, becoming or remaining fascist, an unlikely leader having assumed dictatorial control and drastically altering the country's historical path, etc.
324* Creator/EmperorLemon's YouTubePoop "Lightning [=McQueer=] and the Quest for Tires" has three different endings depending on which of [[Franchise/{{Cars}} the three cars']] annotations you select:
325** If Lightning is selected, he loses the race to [[VideoGame/FZero Captain Falcon]], and flies around the world really fast ''Film/{{Superman|TheMovie}}''-style just so he can win. Then a text slide appears stating that since Lightning won this time, there's no reason for him to have reversed time in the first place, meaning he will never win.
326** If The King (a.k.a Wrestling/RicFlair) is selected, Chick Hicks launches him into the air, causing him to land on top of Lightning when he crosses the finish line.
327** If Chick Hicks is selected, he summons [[VideoGame/MarioKart Death Stare Luigi]], who knocks out The King and distracts Lightning from crossing the finish line, allowing Chick to win the race.
328[[/folder]]
329
330[[folder:Western Animation]]
331* ''WesternAnimation/CarmenSandiego'': The special episode "[[Recap/CarmenSandiegoToStealOrNotToSteal To Steal or not to Steal]]" is a Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure style episode, where the choices the viewer makes for Carmen lead to various endings. Worst case; Carmen and/or her friends are brainwashed by VILE to become VILE operatives. Best case; Carmen rescues her friends and maybe even recovers the items VILE forced her to steal.
332* ''WesternAnimation/{{The End|1995}}'': An animator is discussing his cartoon--the one, in fact that the audience is watching. The cartoon runs through three endings as the animator discusses possibilities with the voice on the phone.
333** First he suggests "The 'Hammer' concept", which involves the two characters in the cartoon being crushed by hammers labeled "the state" and "mass media." The voice on the phone rejects this as "pretty heavy-handed."
334** Then "the 'Love' concept", in which the characters "transcend their existential isolation" by intertwining until they fuse.
335** Finally there's "The 'Fictional Animator'", in which the man on the phone tells the animator that "You are a work of fiction in your own animation." The animator, having morphed through several forms, realizes "I can create my own ending." And with that the cartoon ends.
336* ''WesternAnimation/ElTigre'' did this for its GrandFinale. After spending the whole series unable to decide if he wanted to be a superhero like his dad or a supervillain like his grandpa, Manny was forced to make a final choice. Viewers were asked to vote online to decide if Manny would pick good or evil. The winner was good, with Manny defeating BigBad Sartana of the Dead and becoming hero of the city. The "evil" ending, which was shown on Nickelodeon's website, has Manny join Sartana instead, help her conquer the city, [[ICanRuleAlone and then betray her and]] [[EvilOverlord rule the city himself]].
337* ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'': Two endings to "Race For Your Life Mac & Bloo" were made in which the winner of the episode's race differed between Mac and Bloo. A poll was held on Cartoon Network's website to determine which ending was used, and the winner was Mac. The "Bloo wins" ending was posted on the website for a period after the episode's airing, and an alternate version of the entire episode with that ending is availble on digital services where the show can be bought as well as Creator/{{Hulu}} (but not Creator/HBOMax).
338* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': The episode "Shanghaied" allowed the viewing audience to pick the ending. In the episode, [=SpongeBob=], Patrick, and Squidward get captured and enslaved by the Flying Dutchman. Eventually, the Dutchman promises them ThreeWishes. After [[WastefulWishing wasting the first two]], they begin fighting over who gets to make the third one. The viewers were then asked to call in and vote on who they wanted to get the third wish. The winner was [=SpongeBob=]. Before the winning ending was played, the audience was shown what the two alternate endings would have been. Subsequent airings played like a normal episode, with only the winning ending shown. Patrick and Squidward's endings can be seen on the "Sea Stories" DVD.
339* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' and ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace'': With the exception of Parts 1 and 2 of ''Island (2023)'', each season has two canonical endings, with fans in each country voting for which of the Final Two will win. WordOfGod says that neither is considered more canon than the other (and the show itself generally avoids mentioning who won previous installments), though fans generally consider the "real" winner to be whomever wins in Canada, the franchise's home country. As revealed in Part 2 of ''Island (2023)'', [[spoiler:Owen]] was the winner of ''Island (2007)'', making [[spoiler:Gwen]]'s ending non-canon.
340[[/folder]]
341
342

Top